When they first left, Gloucester had believed that some basis for a firm peace would soon be found. The hopes, however, were fruitless. Whether the papal legate’s violent antipathy to Leicester and the Provisions of Oxford had influenced the French king or, as Barbara and Alphonse suspected but did not say, some of the emissaries’ hearts were not truly in the negotiation, Louis would not support a peace on the terms offered. According to Gloucester, who came and went while Barbara and Alphonse amused themselves at Tonbridge, Leicester made several attempts to find common ground. New names were submitted as arbitrators—men less blatantly supportive of Leicester—and arrangements for the eventual release under adequate sureties of Prince Edward and others were offered. Nonetheless, by the end of September, although negotiations were still being talked of, even Gloucester acknowledged that little hope remained of reaching an accommodation approved by Louis of France and by the Church.
